FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN

Hezbollah plays tit for tat with Israel

Says drones 'only part of our capabilities'

F. Michael Maloof, contributing writer for national security affairs for WND and G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense, and is author of "A Nation Forsaken."

WASHINGTON – Iranian-backed Hezbollah most likely will increase drone forays over Israel, based on what its leadership and the leadership of Iran regard as the success of a recent drone which Hezbollah had launched and remained over Israel undetected before reaching Israel’s sensitive Dimona nuclear reactor, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Hezbollah and Iran have warned Israel that if the Islamic republic is attacked, they will launch missiles against Dimona and other major Israeli centers.

Israel and the U.S. have threatened to take military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities because of its refusal to adhere to Western sanctions designed to stop Iran’s nuclear enrichment efforts.

Hezbollah’s decision to launch more drones comes in response to virtually daily Israeli jet fighter overflights of Lebanon, ostensibly on reconnaissance missions but also to show Israel’s capabilities.

Lebanon constantly complains about such incursions as being in violation of United Nations Resolution 1701, which specifically bars such overflights.

The Iranians also believe that they have missiles which are capable of penetrating Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket shield which the United States helped develop.

“There is no iron dome in the world that we cannot pierce through,” said Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Cultural Affairs and Defense Publicity Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri.

“What is said about this dome (Israel’s Iron Dome) is mostly psychological warfare and propaganda,” he said.

Jazayeri said that Israel continues to have serious vulnerabilities, despite Iron Dome, and warned Tel Aviv that a possible attack against Iran’s nuclear sites could lead to the “annihilation” of the “Tel Aviv regime.”

He said that the drone which was operated by Hezbollah but built by the Iranians showed that Iran could penetrate Israel’s anti-aircraft and radar systems near its Dimona nuclear reactor. He added that it “displayed inefficiency of Israel’s Iron Dome and missile shields.”

“If the incident is not part of psychological warfare, it shows the inefficiency of the Zionist regime’s Iron Dome and defense shield,” said Deputy Coordinator of the IRGC Brig. Gen. Jamaleddin Aberomand, echoing Jazayeri’s comments.

“Their claim that the drone has infiltrated 100 kilometers into the occupied territories indicates that the Zionist regime has abundant weaknesses,” Aberomand said.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah had confirmed that the Hezbollah-launched unmanned drone had penetrated deep into Israeli airspace and was halted only a few miles from the Dimona reactor in the Negev Desert.

Nasrallah said that the operation, code-named Hussein Ayub, had avoided detection by advanced Israeli and U.S. radars.

“This is only part of our capabilities,” Nasrallah said, adding that Hezbollah will send in more drones in the future. While it remains unknown just how many drones Hezbollah may have in its possession, Nasrallah indicated that what his group has came from Iran. They apparently were brought into Lebanon as kits and assembled by Hezbollah, according to sources. Such an approach would help avoid Israeli detection.

Iran and Hezbollah have seen the stealth-like capability of drones, which are difficult to detect, making them useful not only for reconnaissance but, as a recent test by Boeing with a cruise missile demonstrated, capable of emitting a non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse that could cause electrical blackouts on a wide scale.

The recent Boeing test, which WND/G2Bulletin reported, was very successful in knocking out the electricity to specifically designated buildings with electronic components like computers.

According to informed sources, Iran may be developing a similar capability, if it doesn’t already have it. Similarly, Iran is known to have flown unmanned drones over U.S. warships patrolling in the Persian Gulf in an effort to meet any potential threat that Iran could block the vital Strait of Hormuz through which some 40 percent of the world’s oil supplies transit.

The electronics on U.S. warships are not always hardened to prevent such an electronic attack. Iran also is known to be actively involved in developing its own cyber warfare capabilities, which could include the use of its own drones for this purpose against U.S. warships.

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